A RARE FAMILLE-VERTE 'FLOWERS AND BIRDS' OCTAGONAL JARDINIÈRE MARK AND PERIOD OF KANGXI

of octagonal form with flared sides and a lobed everted rim, resting on bracket feet moulded with multicoloured scrolls, each of the eight side panels finely enamelled with a bird perched on a branch bearing flowers or ripe fruits, all vividly coloured and naturalistically rendered in great detail, the everted rim painted with bamboo leaves and rocks, the base pierced with an aperture for drainage, inscribed in underglaze blue with a six-character reign mark under the rim

There is some surface wear and occasional rubbing to the enamels, typical firing specks or minute fritting along the edges, essentially to the interior rim, but overall the jardinière is in an exceptionally good condition. All feet are intacts with only small old flakes to the enamel on the edge of one, and the interior is still set with what is likely to be its original metal liner (the interior of the jardinière has not been inspected due to the presence of the metal bucket inside). The metal bucket itself is corroded and oxidized as can be expected, it is loose but inset inside the jardinière and would need to be cut to be removed. The actual colour is somewhat warmer, the ground more blueish, less white compared to the catalogue illustration.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The present piece is striking for its delicately painted motif of birds and flowering trees in the famille verte palette and belongs to a distinct group of sturdily potted Kangxi mark and period jardinières of hexagonal form. Peter Y.K. Lam, in ‘Lang Tingji and the Porcelain of the Late Kangxi Period’, Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society, vol. 68, 2003-2004, p. 44, suggests that these jardinières were produced in the latter years of the Kangxi reign, possibly commissioned for the Emperor’s 70th birthday, which would have occurred in 1723. A related jardinière from the Qing Court Collection and still in Beijing is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Porcelain in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours, vol. 38., Hong Kong, 1999, cat. no. 95.

Compare also a Kangxi mark and period jardinière of this type similarly painted with birds perched on flowering trees, sold in our Monaco rooms, 29th February 1992, lot 447, and again at Christie’s Hong Kong, 30th May 2012, lot 4101; and a larger one sold twice at Christie’s London, 19th April 1983, lot 357, and 12th November 2002, lot 72. See also two jardinières decorated with a related design, but modelled with a splayed foot, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Qingdai yuyao ciqi [Qing porcelains from the Imperial kilns preserved in the Palace Museum], Beijing, 2005, pls. 71 and 72; another from the collection of Brooke Astor, sold twice in our New York rooms, 2nd December 1967, lot 93, and 24th/25th September 2012, lot 626; and a third sold at Christie’s New York, 19th September 1996, lot 287.

Compare jardinières of related form but painted with figures, such as one from the Qing Court collection and still in Beijing, included in the exhibition Possessing the Past, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1996, p. 505, pl. 289; and another sold in our New York rooms, 2nd December 1967, lot 92.